So would this also be considered a Hate Crime?

'A fireball that would make the country gasp': No bail for suspects in plot to bomb Bronx synagogues

A bloodthirsty gang of four homegrown terror suspects was ordered held without bail Thursday in a plot to blow up two Bronx synagogues and shoot down a plane at upstate Stewart air base.

During brief court hearings, prosecutors branded the gang anti-Semitic would-be killers who dreamed of basking in the glory of their spectacular attacks.

"It's hard to envision a more chilling plot to bring mass murder to a ... community," said Eric Snyder, an assistant U.S. attorney. "These are people who are eager to bring death to Jews."

Three of the shackled suspects - James Cromitie, 44; David Williams, 28, and Onta Williams (no relation to David), 32 - barely spoke in White Plains Federal Court Thursday.

A fourth man, Haitian immigrant Laguerre Payen, 27, looked dazed when he appeared later.

Cromitie, who recruited the other plotters, decided to bomb the synagogues because Al Qaeda already had brought down the best target, the World Trade Center, court papers said.

"I hate those motherf-----s, those f-----g Jewish bastards," he told the informant, court papers revealed. "I would like to get [bomb] a synagogue."

He was itching to watch the devastation he wrought played out over and over again on TV.

"I'm the one who did that," Cromitie congratulated himself after the planned attacks, an informant told cops. "That's my work."

Even though cops called Cromitie the ringleader, Snyder singled out David Williams as the meanest of the bad-news bunch, saying he bragged he'd shoot anyone who tried to stop him.

The suspects, who are charged with conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction and anti-aircraft missiles, did not ask for bail. A judge ordered them held until a hearing on June 6.

Mayor Bloomberg told worshipers at the Riverdale Jewish Center that they were never in danger, thanks to a careful year-long probe.

"The good news is that the NYPD and FBI prevented what could have been a terrible event in our city," Bloomberg said.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said the police presence would be beefed up in the leafy neighborhood to improve the "comfort level" of jittery residents.

"This is unbelievable," Rose Spindler said outside the Riverdale Jewish Center, where she worships. "I'm still shaking."

The group's diabolical dream was to create "a fireball that would make the country gasp," a law enforcement source said.

The accused terrorists were busted Wednesday night as they planted what they thought was 37 pounds of explosives outside the Jewish center and the Riverdale Temple, two blocks away.

Within seconds, authorities had closed off the normally tranquil street using 18-wheel trucks. Cops and agents swarmed over the black SUV getaway vehicle, broke the windows and yanked the suspects out.

The four also plotted to blow a plane out of the sky at Stewart Air National Guard Base in Newburgh, Orange County, authorities charge.

"These guys were angry, they had intent and they were searching for capacity," a senior federal law enforcement official told the Daily News. But, the official added, they're "not exactly Al Qaeda."

The suspects met at their Newburgh mosque, Masjid al-Ikhlas, sources said, and at least three were jailhouse converts to Islam.

The mosque's spiritual leader denounced the plot and disowned the suspects. "Their plan was un-Islamic," declared Imam Salahuddin Mustafa Muhammad.

agendar@nydailynews.com

With Joe Kemp